Ballots go out in vote to preserve Metro bus service

Will King County voters save Metro bus service, or will Washington’s most populous county miss the bus? (KOMO photo)

Ballots have been mailed out for a watershed April 22nd election in which King County voters will decide if they will pay to prevent elimination of “restructuring” of 181 Metro bus routes throughout the county.

The three-week campaign for King County Prop. 1 has received a jolt at takeoff with the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce coming out in opposition.

“The proposed Prop. 1 tax increase does not expand bus service or construct additional park-ride facilities in Seattle or the Eastside,” said the Bellevue Chamber. “Further, the vote jeopardizes the passage of a state transportation plan that is vital to the future of the region.”

King County officials have argued, however, that they acted because the Washington State Senate — led by Senators from the Eastside — failed to act on a state transportation package or give King County resources to ward off steep cuts in service.

The Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce has joined more than 230 public officials and community organizations in backing Prop. 1. Support has come from the Sound Cities Assn., a coalition of 36 suburban cities.

“The chamber has long seen transit as a critical engine for our region’s economic vitality: We cannot afford to see less service, especially at a time when our citizens are making even more use of the system,” Maud Daudon, president/CEO of Seattle Metro CofC, said in announcing chamber support.

Under a new countywide transportation benefit district, voters are being asked to enact a $60 annual vehicle fee — the same fee for all cars, trucks and SUVs — and a sales tax increase of a tenth of a cent.

Sixty percent of the estimated $130 million raised would go to Metro for transit service, sufficient to maintain the present service level. The remaining 40 percent would go to road and bridge maintenance.

King County Executive Dow Constantine: With the State Senate unable to pass a transportation plan, he says county must act on its own to preserve bus service.

The proposed Metro cuts have caused deep concern in such places as the Leschi, Madrona and Mt. Baker neighborhoods near Lake Washington.

As part of a 17 percent service cut, Metro has proposed to eliminate Route #27, which links the Leschi lakeshore with downtown Seattle.

The No. 2 route, which currently goes from Lake Washington all the way to West Queen Anne, would end downtown. It would be rerouted from Seneca to Madison Streets, bypassing current stops at Polyclinic, Horizon House and Virginia Mason Hospital.

The No. 8 route would eliminate service between John and S. Jackson Streets.

“Having grown up in Madrona, and a frequent rider of the infrequent #2, I can say from experience that Madrona can’t afford to lose its already limited bus service. And neither can the rest of King County,” Hester Serebrin wrote in the latest Madrona News, a community newsletter.

“As any bus rider who has been passed up by an overcrowded bus or forced to stand for an entire commute can tell you, these cuts couldn’t be coming at a worse time.”

The same holds true for other neighborhoods. Ballard, Fremont and North Seattle would lose routes (26, 28 and 30) linking to downtown. West Seattle, scene of crowded buses, would see four routes deep sixed. All told, Metro would eliminate 600,000 hours of service.

The Legislature’s failure to act is costly to a water-flanked city that is the state’s economic engine, but also to a county with more than 1.2 million residents.

It could soon become costlier. Just look north and south in the Pugetopolis.

Snohomish County has reduced its bus service by 35 percent. Pierce County has cut even deeper — 43 percent — after voters narrowly rejected a rescue package.

The Great Recession has cost Metro more than $1 billion in revenue. The county bus system has used fare increases, postponed purchases and maintenance, and cuts in overhead to stave off service cuts. Such measures have carried it only so far — to the present.

If Prop. 1 is defeated, the bus system stands to eliminate 74 routes and restructure an additional 107 — at a time when ridership is climbing.